Father Bonadio, Sulpician known for pastoral warmth, dies at 83

Sulpician Father Joseph J. Bonadio, who shared his gift for homiletics with seminarians and served his home parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Mayfield, a retirement community and a college with great warmth, died Jan. 20 from complications of COVID-19. He was 83.

Father Bonadio spent his formative years in the northeast Baltimore parish, was its assistant pastor from 1990 to 2001, and continued as a weekend associate there while serving as chaplain to the Catholic community at Oak Crest retirement community in Parkville.

“He was a native son of the parish,” said Monsignor William F. Burke, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi. “He was always congenial, always jovial and happy to serve.”

A book published in 2002 marking the 75th anniversary of the parish noted that Father Bonadio was a teenager when his family moved to Beverly Hills, north of the church, in 1954. 

“There was a nice, close feeling among all the people, and that hasn’t changed,” Father Bonadio said in the jubilee book.

According to Monsignor Burke, Father Bonadio would reminisce about playing baseball in Herring Run Park for Baltimore City College, where he was the catcher on the varsity team.

In addition to being an athlete, he was a musician, with piercing blue eyes and the good looks of a matinee idol of the time. When he entered St. Charles Seminary in 1955, it was to the chagrin of some, according to Fran Gast, a former parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi and now a resident of Oak Crest.

“He was more my sister’s age,” Gast said. “When he said he was going into seminary, all the girls’ were heartbroken.”

Father Bonadio completed his bachelor’s degree at St. Mary’s Seminary on Paca Street, and then his theological studies at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1964, and immediately joined the Society of St. Sulpice.

According to Sulpician Father Robert F. Leavitt, the former rector of the seminary, the priest’s decision to enter the society was influenced by an earlier rector, Sulpician Father James A. Laubacher. 

“Joe idolized Father Laubacher and wanted to be like him, despite their being diametric opposites,” Father Leavitt said. “Father Laubachher was dogmatic, a theologian, a very formal person … who did not make small talk. 

“Joe was a very expressive conversationalist. He was a warm, gregarious guy, the kind you wanted to have pasta with. He had such a warm, welcoming face. He was happy to see you, even if it had only been a short time since he had last seen you. He was interested in other people.” 

Father Bonadio served on the faculty of St. Thomas Seminary in Louisville, Ky., 1964-66, and returned to Roland Park to teach liturgy and preaching at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, 1966-73, when Father Leavitt was among his first students.

“We had maybe 60-70 (transitional) deacons in fourth year, and he got us ready for our first Masses, in great detail,” Father Leavitt said. “He taught us the various arts of homiletics. He was not a drill sergeant. He was not an intellect, in terms of other faculty who were in theology. He was much more pastoral.”

In 1973, Father Bonadio became rector of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, Ca., in what an obituary prepared by his religious community described as “a period of transition in the post-conciliar (Vatican II) church.” In 1978, he returned east to serve as director of worship and homiletics at the Theological College in Washington, D.C.

In 1983, he returned to St. Mary’s Seminary, and served as director of the St. Mary’s Spiritual Center on Paca Street, 1984-89.

A year later, Father Bonadio returned to his home parish, where Gast remembered his parents, Frank and Carmela, worshipping in the front row at the Masses he offered; his trombone playing at any parish social that included a band, his specialty being “When the Saints Coming Marching In”; and his approachability. 

“Father Joe had a warmth about him, you felt like you could talk to him about anything,” Gast said.

Father Bonadio also served as chaplain of what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore, 1990-95, a stint that began when School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Feeley was its president.

“He brought joy, understanding, compassion and kindness,” Sister Kathleen said. “He led us to a deeper understanding of God’s never-ending love for us, and how we could share that love with others. He lived his message.”

Father Bonadio served as chaplain of Oak Crest, 1995-2012, a stretch when attendance at the Masses he offered every Friday grew from a few dozen faithful to more than 300. The residence honored him with a retirement party in January 2014.

“We started from nothing and built a wonderful Catholic community,” Father Bonadio said in remarks, according to an article in the Review. “It’s a blessing for me to serve you as I have over the years.”

He served as superior of what was then St. Charles Villa, now Villa Olier, the Sulpician retirement community, 2001-2007. 

According to the obituary prepared by the Sulpicians, Father Bonadio contracted the COVID-19 virus over the Christmas holiday, and was hospitalized Jan. 14 at Northwest Hospital in Randallstown.  

At Father Bonadio’s request, a funeral Mass will be offered at St. Francis of Assisi Jan. 25 at 11 a.m., by invitation only because of the pandemic. Monsignor Burke will preach the homily. Burial will follow in the Sulpician cemetery in Catonsville. 

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

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